§ MR. JAMES DALY (Monaghan, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, whether, having regard to the great fall in prices of cattle and agricultural products in Ireland, and to the fact that the oat, hay, and flax crops are barely half an average crop, he will take steps to secure an immediate revision of judicial rents in Ireland, and will he bring in some such measure of relief for Irish farmers during the present Session?
§ CAPTAIN DONELAN (Cork, E.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, whether he is aware that, owing to the abnormally low prices of staple Irish farm products, and to the losses entailed upon Irish farmers by the prolonged drought in the spring and the wet hay and corn harvest, it will be absolutely impossible for many of them to pay their rents in full this year, and, whether he will take steps to meet this emergency by passing a Bill for the temporary revision of judicial rents during the present Session?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURI am informed by the Agricultural Department of the Land Commission, that it appears from the return of actual transactions collected by that department that during the present year the price of store cattle has been fully maintained throughout Ireland when compared with the prices of the past year. The returns also show that the prices of several of the agricultural products have not maintained the average prices of last year, though to what extent this slight fall may be of a permanent nature it is not possible to say.
§ MR. JAMES DALYasked whether the right hon. Gentleman would be kind enough to lay the information he had obtained upon this subject upon the table?
§ Mr. GERALD BALFOURCertainly.
§ CAPTAIN DONELANasked the right hon. Gentleman whether he was aware that the average price of butter in Ireland during the summer had been under 6d. a pound, and that even now the top price of butter in the Cork Butter Market was only 8d. a pound; and whether he was aware that the average price of oats on Saturday last in the Cork Corn Market was only 6d. per 381 stone. He asked the right hon. Gentleman whether, in view of prices such as these and of the disastrous harvest in Ireland, it was not obviously impossible for the Irish farmer to meet his rent in full this year? ["Hear, hear!"]
§ MR. KILBRIDE (Galway, N.)asked whether the Gentleman who had supplied the return to which the right hon. Gentleman had referred had anticipated the price of store cattle in the fall of this year—a matter of more importance to the Irish farmer in respect of his power of meeting his year's rent than the spring prices were. In view of the probable action of the Government in prohibiting the importation of Canadian cattle into England and Scotland the matter was one of general interest.
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURsaid that it must be obvious to the House that he was not in a position to answer these detailed questions as to the prices of commodities. He must really ask hon. Members to put their questions down upon the paper.
§ SIR WILFRID LAWSON (Cumberland, Cockermouth),asked whether the right hon. Gentleman could say whether the price of whisky had fallen. [Laughter.]
No answer was given to this question.